CAPE TOWN – SAPS emergency call centres are under increasing scrutiny over service delivery failures, with yet another facility experiencing operational difficulties this week.
The Maitland SAPS 10111 call centre has been suffering from technical difficulties this week, leaving another emergency call centre unoperational and raising serious concerns about the reliability of the country’s primary emergency response system.
Dunoon deaths highlight call centre failures
The latest incident follows last week’s fatal case in Dunoon, where four people were murdered after allegations emerged that a failure to properly handle a distress call to the SAPS 10111 emergency call centre may have denied police an opportunity to intervene.
The Dunoon incident was previously reported by Novanews, which detailed the circumstances surrounding the four murders.
Anroux Marais, the Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, expressed concern over the allegations and welcomed swift internal disciplinary action taken by police management against the call centre operator involved in the Dunoon case.
Marais said any failure by an official to act when there is a duty to do so must be taken seriously.
“If established, this would constitute a serious dereliction of duty, particularly given the nature of the emergency and the consequences of that inaction,” she said.
She acknowledged the difficult conditions under which police and emergency call centre personnel operate, including high levels of violent crime, limited resources and heavy emergency call volumes.
However, she stressed that these pressures did not remove officials’ responsibility to respond appropriately when members of the public call for assistance.
“Members of the public who make use of the 10111 emergency service must be able to trust that their calls for assistance will be taken seriously and that appropriate action will follow,” Marais said.
“Where that does not happen, there must be accountability.”
Mayor slams unacceptable outage
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis described the ongoing 10111 emergency line unavailability as “unacceptable” and urged residents experiencing emergencies to contact the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC) on 021 480 7700.
The centre operates 24 hours a day and can dispatch City Law Enforcement, Metro Police and Traffic Enforcement, while also relaying requests to SAPS and other emergency services.
“If no one is answering the calls, we will never turn the tide on crime,” Hill-Lewis said.
City emergency centre offers alternative
According to Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, the PECC handles more than 180 000 incidents annually.
Its 70 Emergency Communicators work around the clock and assist callers in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa.
Smith said crime-related calls have increased year-on-year, partly due to the unreliability of 10111.
“City call-takers and resources [are] doing their best within limited resources to ensure a response is forthcoming for residents despite issues with SAPS,” he said.
Marais said the allegations reinforce the need for police emergency response systems to be properly resourced, managed and responsive to communities.
Residents using the City’s emergency centre are urged to have the exact location and relevant details of an incident ready when calling 021 480 7700.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing residents can also register their details on the City of Cape Town mobile app to enable a distress signal to be sent and their location identified during an emergency.
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